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It’s Mixology Monday time once again guys and boy, have I ever been this late in submitting my post… well, it doesn’t matter, although late, I am still in time to take part in this amazing monthly online meeting. The theme of the month has been chosen by Elana of Stir and Strain, one of the best crafted cocktail blog out there, especially when we talk about pictures. Elana is a pro, no questions about it. The theme she chose for this month is SMOKE, and you can read all about it on her announcement post.
Smoke infusions are a trendy technique nowadays, (maybe they are not even trendy anymore, bar trends are really fast lately) and definitely one of my favorite, so much that I will be hosting a night here in my hometown next month, and the 4 drinks menu will be focused on the different ways to smoke a cocktail, be it with a cold smoke infusion (such in the recipe below), or by adding a smoky flavor to one of the ingredients (Charcoal infused Campari for example).
In a few weeks I will post all the recipes, but until then, let’s check out something that kept me busy the whole weekend.
“Ceci n’est pas une Jasmine”Continue reading →

Last month I had a lot of fun at the Disaronno Mixing Star casting in Milan, with my cocktail Mr. Wolf, unfortunately I didn’t make to the Amsterdam Final, but it was a great experience nonetheless, and a great honor to be selected among the 40 Italian finalists. I had the chance to meet many talented professionals, tasted great drinks, and I was relieved to see that almost all the participants were following international mixology trends and techniques. I wish I could make time to visit all these great guys, but unfortunately, although Italy is a rather small country, travelling trough it can be expensive and tedious. Hopefully by the end of this year I’ll manage to check out one or two cool bars, and I will make sure to keep you readers posted.
Now to the subject of todays’ post: I have recently discovered that Beefeater is holding a worldwide competition for their Beefeater 24 gin, and to keep my new year resolution in check, I am going to submit a drink and try to get to the final.

It’s time for cherries, and coincidentally, thanks to Andrea of Gin Hound, it’s also time for another Mixology Monday meeting. Here’s Andrea’s announcement post, and I would encourage all the readers to check it out, to have an idea how an usual MxMo meeting works.
Last month round-up was a great success, with lots of great recipes, and I would expect this one to have a lot of participants too, given how tasty the theme is.
As my title suggest, I am going to have a go at one great classic, twisting it with homemade cherry soda, then I am going to prove Mr. Morgenthaler wrong, and finally we’ll take a look at a little tiki number. Cheers!

* Prepare a Sour Cherry syrup first, simmering fresh black cherry juice, sour cherry jam (possibly organic and without added sugar), raw sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon and Angostura. Strain the whole thing and add it to soda water or charge it with a siphon. I used a siphon and a 1:3 syrup to water ratio.

Prep:
Combine all the ingredients except Angostura in a shaker, dry shake first and then shake vigorously with ice for few minutes. You really wanna make a velvety concoction with this one so the harder and the longer you shake it the better it is. Pour in a chilled glass over 2 oz. of sour cherry soda. Add two drops of Angostura and decorate with a little lavender flower.

This is the second time that I meddle with a Ramos Fizz, and just as in the first recipe, I don’t wonder too far from the original template. This drink is so perfect on his own that it always feels wrong to play around with it. The Ramos Fizz is one of those drinks that made a great comeback, one of those New Orleans icons brought back by the cocktail revival, and since making it back on the mixology scene, it has inspired many bartenders to work with egg white and orange flower water.
This version that I am presenting you is slightly sweeter than a classic one, but with much more spices that blends perfectly with the texture of this drink. The aroma is all about Angostura, and it prepares to a sip where citrus is enhanced and balanced by the sour cherry soda.The sour cherry persists after the swallow and mingles with Tanqueray, leaving you with a long sweet and sour sensation.

Prep:
Combine all the ingredients in a shaker, dryshake first and then shake with ice, double strain over ice, add the carved lemon half, pour absinthe in it and then light it up. Give the customer a spoon because organic jam and absinthe, once the fire is out, are delicious.

This is a little fun cocktail, to be made at home with friends or a quick one to impress easy customers, but most importantly, it’s a simple recipe that I posted to remind us that bartending is all about fun. Not much to be said about this drink, it’s a great Amaretto Sour, the addition of the jam gives it an extra dimension, but here it’s all about the garnish, and the aroma of cherry and absinthe burning together. Here’s a little link to Mr. Jeffrey Morgenthaler video, where he claims he makes the best Amaretto Sour in the world. Well Sir I beg to disagree!!

Prep:
The preparation for this is quite complex so I will try to post a video in the coming weeks. Place the black cherries, halved and pitted, at the bottom of a long and thin well-chilled.glass jar. Add sugar and absinthe and then flame them by lighting on fire an Angostura spray, just like Jamie Boudreau does here in this video. Let the fire stop after a while and then muddle the cherries. Place the jar on crushed ice and let it chill again. At this point take a cinnamon stick and light it up, inside the jar. Let the smoke roll into the jar (if it’s cold enough the smoke will stay inside the jar).
add all the other spirits, close the jar and give it a very quick shake.
reopen the jar, add all the juices and crushed ice, and start swizzling.
Top with more crushed ice, Angostura dashes and garnish.

Now, this swizzle sounds mighty complex but in reality it is not. If you have your line ready, flame the cherries while keeping the jar relatively chilled sitting in crushed ice, the cinnamon smoke will stay inside without a problem. It shouldn’t take more than 3/4 minutes. The result is a very refreshing cocktail, very complex, with cherries and cognac marring perfectly, surrounded by a hint of absinthe and funkiness of Cockspur. Carpano Antica Formula is a great combo with Cognac and it lingers quite a lot, its tame bitterness balancing the sweetness of Absinthe and cherries.
I was so pleased and surprised by this drink that I decided to take it with me to a live comp by the beach next month.. we’ll see what the judges’ll think of it.

That’s it for this post, thanks a lot to Andrea for choosing a very inspiring theme, and thanks to Frederic for reviving this great community! Salute!